City Council
MEETING DATE: 7/26/2017
TITLE:
Title
Sale of Marijuana Clone Plants by Dispensaries
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FROM:
Charlie McClendon, City Manager
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
This item is presented for information, discussion and direction only.
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BACKGROUND:
A policy question has arisen regarding whether and under what circumstances licensed dispensaries in Cathedral City may sell marijuana clones to customers and at what point does possession of clones indicate that a cultivation license may be required. Councilmember Carnevale requested a discussion of the topic so that staff may provide clarity to the licensed dispensaries in the City.
DISCUSSION:
Staff consulted with the Cathedral City Attorney's office on this question and also with special counsel Vicente Sederberg. Following is a paraphrase of the feedback received:
The State statutes and proposed regulations shed some light on this subject without fully clarifying things. Their analysis indicated that a clone would fall under the definition of "cannabis." However, the inquiry doesn't end there. The critical question is really about which State license type can engage in which activities.
There are several types of cultivation licenses under the State regulatory scheme, including a license for "nurseries." A nursery license type can propagate and sell clones and immature plants but is not allowed to grow plants to maturity. According to Jordan, a nursery may sell its clones, seeds and immature plants to other cultivation licensees. A non-nursery cultivation licensee may produce clones for use at it's own facility but cannot transfer those clones to another cultivation licensee. No cultivation licensees are authorized to sell to end customers (only other licensed businesses).
Separately, under the State regulations a "retailer" licensee (the equivalent of a City dispensary license) is authorized to sell cannabis and cannabis products to customers but is not allowed to "cultivat...
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